Critical Assemblies: Dragon Burst Assembly and Solution Assemblies. (11th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kimpland, Robert; Grove, Travis; Jaegers, Peter; Malenfant, Richard; Myers, William
• Is Part Of: Nuclear technology. Volume 207(2021)Supplement 1
• Page Start: S81
• Page End: S99
• Publication Date: 2021-10-11
• Subjects: Manhattan Project -- Dragon experiment -- water boiler reactors -- multiphysics simulations -- coupled neutronic-hydrodynamic method; Nuclear engineering -- Periodicals; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear Physics; Periodicals; Periodicals; 621.48
• DOI: 10.1080/00295450.2021.1927626
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1943-7471

Abstract

Abstract: This work reviews the historical literature associated with the Dragon experiment and water boiler reactors operated at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Frisch's invited talk given at the American Nuclear Society's Fast Burst Reactor Conference held at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1969 is quoted. From the literature review, basic models for the Dragon experiment and for a water boiler–type assembly (aqueous homogeneous reactor) were created that can be used for conducting multiphysics simulations for criticality excursion studies. This methodology utilizes the coupled neutronic-hydrodynamic method to perform a time-dependent dynamic simulation of a criticality excursion. MCNP® was utilized to calculate important nuclear kinetic parameters that were incorporated into the models. Simulation results compare reasonably well with historic data.